Waiting for a miracle

The other night when Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. dropped by The STAR, representatives of the Iglesia Ni Cristo and El Shaddai had just told the Senate committee handling constitutional amendments that they preferred to rewrite the Charter through a constitutional convention. A statement from an arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines also said the time is not yet ripe for Charter change or Cha-cha.

The irrepressible De Venecia, however, seemed unfazed.

Yesterday he told his provincemates in Pangasinan that he believed in miracles "big and small" and one was still possible in his campaign to amend the Constitution.

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If it were another person leading this campaign, I’d say that at this point, Cha-cha through a constituent assembly is doomed. But because it’s Joe de Venecia the ultimate salesman, his optimism about Cha-cha through "consa" can be infectious.

De Venecia has one thing going for him. Even without the NFO-Trends survey he is citing, you can see that unlike in the first attempt to amend the Constitution during the Ramos administration, public opposition to Cha-cha has weakened. The only bones of contention are the mode of amending the Constitution and the timing.

The Speaker does have sound arguments for Cha-cha through a constituent assembly. Consa is so much cheaper, for one. A constitutional convention or con-con will require two delegates for each of the 210 congressional districts. That’s 420 delegates who must be elected and then placed on taxpayers’ payroll while they rewrite the Constitution.

Consa can get the work done faster, especially if Congress, which will convene itself into a constituent assembly, sticks to the limited agenda of Cha-cha proponents. The changes will involve a shift from presidential to parliamentary, unicameral form of government, with a 10-year shift to federalism. All elective officials will have a term of five years instead of the current three. This, De Venecia argues, will stop officials from being preoccupied throughout much of their term with preparations for re-election, including fund-raising for their campaign. The president, who will be directly elected by the people, will be allowed one re-election.

Amendments of economic provisions will include measures to attract foreign investments in sectors that need massive funding such as infrastructure, oil exploration, mining, housing and real estate. This includes lifting restrictions on foreign ownership. De Venecia has no proposals on clipping the powers of the judiciary in economic matters.

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There’s little time left before the 2004 elections. By De Venecia’s own estimate, "consa" has to get rolling by August at the latest, or the reforms Cha-cha proponents are seeking would have to wait till 2010 to take effect. Reforms envisioned under Cha-cha, which the nation badly needs, cannot wait that long, De Venecia believes. He points out that already the nation has been overtaken by neighbors such as Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, which 40 years ago lagged behind the Philippines. De Venecia blames this on legislative gridlocks resulting from constant bickering between the two chambers of Congress and between Congress and Malacañang.

The time for reforms is now, De Venecia insists. By June 6, however, Congress will adjourn. Work resumes only in late July.

The House of Representatives has come out in favor of consa. De Venecia needs eight Senate votes for the consa proposal to graduate from the committee level to the floor. Twelve votes are needed to approve the proposal. "We now have seven to eight," De Venecia told us. Opponents led by Senate President Franklin Drilon will probably dispute that figure.

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De Venecia’s problem is perception. Consa opponents believe he is moving to install either himself or Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as prime minister. Senators who still have three more years to go in their terms naturally also don’t want their chamber abolished. Drilon is chafing over threats to unseat him from the top Senate post if he refused to go along with Cha-cha.

And senators who want to run for president or vice president next year are worried about their prospects under a parliamentary system. De Venecia surely understands the senators’ sentiments. During the first attempt to amend the Constitution, he was widely known to be aspiring for the presidency in the 1998 elections. His refusal to support that first Cha-cha attempt soured his relations with then President Fidel Ramos, but FVR eventually gave in to their party’s decision, dropped Cha-cha and endorsed De Venecia’s bid.

Now De Venecia must also worry about the effects of the opposition of El Shaddai and the Iglesia Ni Cristo to consa’s political support. But hope springs eternal for the Speaker; he thinks the INC’s Eraño Manalo and El Shaddai’s Mike Velarde may still be persuaded to change their minds.

De Venecia also clarified that the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines will make known its official stand on Cha-cha and consa in July yet.

He mentioned three major business groups that he said were willing to go along with consa, as long as he could guarantee that there would be elections next year. The businessmen’s biggest concern, he said, is that "no-el" could cause serious national destabilization, which is of course bad for business.

De Venecia emphasized to us that there would be elections next year, whatever amendments are approved through consa.

He said he was encouraged by the softening of President Arroyo on the matter of Cha-cha. From being "vehemently anti," he noted, the President became simply "anti" and has now shifted gears to neutral.

"We will just have to work harder," De Venecia told us.

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EARLY WARNING: Roberto Lastimoso should rein in his personnel at the Land Transportation Office. Motorists are complaining that they are being required to buy early warning devices from the LTO at nearly double the regular retail prices before vehicles can be registered. A pair of EWDs costs nearly P500.

The LTO-approved EWDs are assigned serial numbers with a corresponding sticker that must be displayed on a vehicle’s windshield. Without those stickers, motorists can be apprehended.

Vehicle registration fees are expensive enough for many motorists. If the LTO can’t bring down the price of its EWDs, it should issue specifications that motorists can follow for buying the devices from regular retailers.